The invention relates to a method and means for removing an extended length of arteriosclerotic material from the lumen of an occluded artery.
I am not aware of any prior art which is material to the subject invention. The subject invention is characterized by stripping the arteriosclerotic material from an artery by squeezing the artery between a pair of rollers and moving the rollers along the artery. The prior art endarterectomy methods known to me comprise the use of annular knives or cutting loops which are moved along the inside of an artery to excise the arteriosclerotic occlusion therefrom.
I am aware that roller-pair instruments have been disclosed, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,648,701 and 4,164,223, as a means for stripping the contents of flexible tubing prior to the use of such tubing, for example, for intravenous feeding.